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Tim O'Reilly is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc., thought by many to be the best computer book publisher in the world. O'Reilly Media also hosts conferences on technology topics, including the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, the Web 2.0 Summit, and the Gov 2.0 Summit.

Since 1978, Tim has led the company's pursuit of its core goal: to be a catalyst for technology change by capturing and transmitting the knowledge of "alpha geeks" and other innovators. His active engagement with technology communities drives both the company's product development and its marketing. Tim has built a culture where advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism are key tenets of the business philosophy.

Tim's blog, the O'Reilly Radar, "watches the alpha geeks" to determine emerging technology trends, and serves as a platform for advocacy about issues of importance to the technical community. Tim is on the boards of CollabNet and Safari Books Online, and is a partner in O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures.

Blog Posts

This tweet by Steve Case ( @stevecase ) struck home for me, because in the aftermath of Steve Jobs' death I've been thinking a lot about O'Reilly, wanting to make sure that we streamline and focus on the stuff that matters most.

"My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products," Jobs told [biographer Walter] Isaacson. "[T]he products, not the profits, were the motivation. [John] Sculley flipped these priorities to where the goal was to make money. It's a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything."

Jobs went on to describe the legacy he hoped he would leave behind, "a company that will still stand for something a generation or two from now."

"That's what Walt Disney did," said Jobs, "and Hewlett and Packard, and the people who built Intel. They created a company to last, not just to make money. That's what I want Apple...

My experience as a manager – and in particular, as the leader of a company – has been shaped by two quotes that have helped frame my thinking about that role. One is from Harold Geneen, who oversaw the growth of ITT into the first modern conglomerate:

“The skill of management is achieving your objectives through the efforts of others.”

This view of management suggests the classic manager, somebody who figures out what needs to be done and who needs to do it. I appreciate this concept -- because the skill of management is indeed achieving your objectives through the effort of others. But I’ve also worked within the framing of another quote, this one from Edwin Schlossberg, about writing.

“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.”

The idea behind this – that leadership entails a responsibility to create an opportunity for others -- has really shaped my thinking because most of my leadership experience has been in running a company. And that role is largely about seeing the potential in people and projects, and creating a context...

Me in Three

I love Edwin Schlossberg's maxim that "the skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think." I've tried to do that throughout my career as a publisher, conference producer, and technology evangelist. I've been involved in storytelling about the commercialization of the Web in the early 90s, the Open Source movement, and the Web 2.0 renaissance after the dotcom bust.

Right now, one of the big stories I'm working on is the idea of "Government as a platform." What if, instead of thinking of government as a vending machine into which we put taxes and get out services, we could make it work more like the iPhone app store, a platform that supports innovation from the outside? At its best, government does this (think the interstate highway system, weather satellites, the internet, or the Global Positioning System.) But often we forget. There's a chance to rediscover this idea as we move to the next level of internet infrastructure.

My hobbies include gardening, making jam, walking, and connecting people and ideas.